Acclaimed Native Hawaiian composer and cultural artist to grace the MACC
With a libretto commissioned by the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, acclaimed Native Hawaiian composer Leilehua Lanzilotti is currently working on a remarkable new opera paying tribute to the legacy of Queen Lili‘uokalani during the time when she was imprisoned at ‘Iolani Palace.
Lanzilotti has adapted the libretto from Lili‘uokalani’s writings, including her recently published bilingual diaries, historical research, and 7 songs she composed while imprisoned. The libretto is bilingual in ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i and English.
A University of Hawaii at Manoa music lecturer, she will talk about her innovative “Lili‘u” opera on Sunday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center as part of the Merwin Conservancy’s Green Room series.
“I had been thinking about this for a while,” Lanzilotti explained. “Lili‘uokalani had written some sketches, evidence of her writing an opera, which are in the state archives. In this opera that she was starting to create, she writes about the trial and the imprisonment. So in a way to honor Lili‘uokalani and kind of look at presenting this story in the context of opera, part of that was honoring her, but the specific format I was echoing what kind of cool, radical contemporary work that she was doing in her time by framing that and understanding some of the work she was doing of advocacy and communication through her songs she wrote in imprisonment in opera. So it’s kind of a historical echo of a contemporary approach to honoring these things that the queen herself was curious and excited about.”
Along with the talk, Lanzilotti will take part in the Merwin Conservancy’s multidisciplinary residency program, where she will be working to develop the opera and deepen connections with the Maui community. She will be joined by collaborators including Oahu-born dancer/choreographer Anthony Aiu, musicians Cameron Beauchamp, Amanda Crider, and Brad Wells from the Grammy winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, and language consultant Kumu Kahanuola Solatorio.
Among her accomplishments, Lanzilotti was honored as a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her work “with eyes the color of time,” which the Pulitzer committee called, “a vibrant composition … that distinctly combines experimental string textures and episodes of melting lyricism.” A New York Classical Review of a concert performance of “with eyes the color of time” described it as “a near-masterpiece.”
Praised by The New York Times as a “leading composer-performer,” her works include “‘ahapua‘a,” for string quartet, “hānau ka ua,” for flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone, percussion, piano, violin, cello, and electronics, and “the strong pulse beneath the charred earth,” composed for trumpet, trombone, and electric guitar.
“I have a training in classical music and I was in a hālau hula as a kid, and so there’s coming from different sound worlds,” she explained her eclectic approach. “Lili‘uokalani, in her time, was combining western notation. The harmonic language that she uses are in this western style, but she combines it with the beautiful depth of Hawaiian poetry and this tradition of chant. I see that as kind of combining these two traditions in a really beautiful way to show the power of mele and the power of Hawaiian language with this different frame. As I’ve been composing more I take a lot of inspiration from her.”
As a recording artist, Lanzilotti has played viola on Joan Osborne’s “Love and Hate” album and she was featured on Icelandic musician Björk’s “Vulnicura Live,” recorded at Carnegie Hall. “That was incredible,” she recalled. “Björk wanted five violins, five violas and five cellos. She’s such an incredible artist.”
Proclaimed as a remarkable virtuoso in the world of classical chamber music, Lanzilotti was inspired early by growing up at the Honolulu Museum of Art. “My mom was the curator of education from when I was five until I left for college, and I spent a lot of time after school playing around in the museum. I was immersed in contemporary art from a very young age. There was this cool, immersive David Hockney installation in a guest house. They had this Ravel opera that Hockney had designed the set for, and they had the Ravel opera playing on repeat. So I used to sit in there and play in this installation listening to the music. It obviously had a huge influence on me. That’s some of the inspiration for the string orchestra work that was the finalist for the Pulitzer two years ago. That kind of contemporary approach and immersiveness and the pacing of my work is very much related to those experiences spending a ton of time immersed in contemporary art from a very young age, and kind of seeing that as normal.”
Leilehua Lanzilotti will talk at the MACC’s McCoy Studio Theater on Sunday at 6 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $10 for students, available online at mauiarts.org.